Abstract

Pulse-width pulse-frequency (PWPF) modulators are widely used in spacecraft thruster control. Their dynamic characteristic is still lack of effective analysis tools. This paper presents a fractional describing function method to describe the frequency characteristics of PWPF. A frequency-dependent gain and phase shift are clearly described by fractional-order expression, and the fractional-order behaviors depict the nonlinear properties of PWPF modulators. This fractional describing function method can also be applied to other kinds of modulators.